<< Our Photo Pages >> Dolmen de Dombate - Burial Chamber or Dolmen in Spain in Galicia
Submitted by ernar on Wednesday, 01 September 2004 Page Views: 14237
Neolithic and Bronze AgeSite Name: Dolmen de Dombate Alternative Name: A FornellaCountry: Spain Region: Galicia Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen
Nearest Town: Vimianzo Nearest Village: Borneiro
Latitude: 43.190194N Longitude: 8.969345W
Condition:
5 | Perfect |
4 | Almost Perfect |
3 | Reasonable but with some damage |
2 | Ruined but still recognisable as an ancient site |
1 | Pretty much destroyed, possibly visible as crop marks |
0 | No data. |
-1 | Completely destroyed |
5 | Superb |
4 | Good |
3 | Ordinary |
2 | Not Good |
1 | Awful |
0 | No data. |
5 | Can be driven to, probably with disabled access |
4 | Short walk on a footpath |
3 | Requiring a bit more of a walk |
2 | A long walk |
1 | In the middle of nowhere, a nightmare to find |
0 | No data. |
5 | co-ordinates taken by GPS or official recorded co-ordinates |
4 | co-ordinates scaled from a detailed map |
3 | co-ordinates scaled from a bad map |
2 | co-ordinates of the nearest village |
1 | co-ordinates of the nearest town |
0 | no data |
Internal Links:
External Links:
I have visited· I would like to visit
rrmoser visited on 23rd Oct 2014 - their rating: Cond: 5 Amb: 1 Access: 5 Sadly this is the result of overzealous archeologists, historians and public officials. This magnificent dolmen has now been "preserved" -- truly entombed -- and has lost its function as a sacred site. The idea that a structure at least 5000 years old needs a huge wooden roof (that may last 100 years) to protect it is ridiculous. The objects found could be conserved in a museum and the site left in the state that has preserved it for the last 5000 years.
LeGuMa visited on 1st Jul 2013 - their rating: Cond: 5 Amb: 4 Access: 5
MacD visited on 28th May 2011 - their rating: Cond: 4 Amb: 4 Access: 5 I had read so much about this site I was prepared to be disappointed but I wasn't. It really is magnificent and has finally been opened to the public again. Ok, so it would be preferable to see it in the open air but it would have to be partly reburied to protect it and the truly massive proportions would have been hidden again. The visitor centre has yet to be completed internally and hopefully the finds will be returned from the museum in A Coruna including the 20 "idolinos" found at the entrance to the passage. There are many more megaliths in the area - mostly off the beaten track and not as huge as this....and loads more fantastic sites in Galicia. Highly recommended!
Jansold visited on 21st Aug 2008 - their rating: Cond: 3 Amb: 1 Access: 5 Supposedly the 'cathedral' of dolmens, the Dolmen de Dombate was looking very sad when visited in 2008. 'Protected' by wooden shutters and concrete posts, it was under cover in a makeshift marquee.
I believe things are now much improved, with visitor centre and interpretation etc., but for charm and atmosphere, there are much better sites in Galicia
Average ratings for this site from all visit loggers: Condition: 4.25 Ambience: 2.5 Access: 5
The monument is actually two Tombs constructed in two different time frames, one over the other. The older monument appeared in the excavation process of the visible "modern" megalith.
"Modern" Dombate: (Dated 3900 BC) this megalith is composed of a 24m diameter, 1,8m high barrow which does not seem to have totally covered the actual chamber. The later is a poligonal chamber composed of seven orthostats (the bigger one at the back of the monument is 4,7x3m) covered by a massive capstone. This chamber was accessed by a three segment - 4m long - corridor made of six orthostats of decreasing heights. The corridor, covered by a capstone and probably by the barrow, is oriented to the East.
Inside the megalith, several petroglyphs have been found, but what makes this Dolmen unique in Spain is the discovery of several paintings in both the chamber and the access corridor. These pictures are Zig-Zag motives in reddish colour with black dots over a whitish base.
Objects encountered inside the tomb reveal different periods of usage, and range from early neolithic silex blades to pre-beaker pottery. All in all the Dolmen was used from its creation (3900 BC) to 2700BC when a final lith was installed blocking all access.
Other objects dating from 2700BC to contemporary times have been found since the first re-opening of the megalith by Beaker Culture gravediggers.
"Old Dombate": (Date Unknown) of this monument, a broken orthostat from the chamber - plus several 'negatives' where the rest of them were located - still remain. Also remains a Kerb-like structure, a remnant of a full stone shielding covering the 10'5m diameter barrow. The chamber measures 2,40m by 1,90 and is oriented ESE.
For exhaustive information on this monument, see:
Main Page (Spanish)
Specific Description (Spanish)
The Dolmen is clearly signposted on the AC-430 and CP-1404.
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